Grand opening set for Camarillo sports park

The Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District will hold a grand opening this month for its new sports park at Village at the Park in Camarillo.

The district will celebrate the completion of Pleasant Valley Fields with food, games, a youth fun-run and entertainment at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 29.

Construction of the 55.6-acre park was marked by occasional controversy, including the decision to lay sod rather than plant seed, adding considerably to the cost.

"One of the first board meetings I was at," said district board Chairwoman Elaine Magner, "we voted to borrow $12 million to build it, and now to watch as that field of weeds has become green, with nice new buildings, I can't put how I feel into words." Despite the cost concerns, the park came in at $11.2 million, officials said.

Pleasant Valley Fields will be home to all three Camarillo-area soccer leagues — the American Youth Soccer Organization, Real California Football Club and Camarillo Eagles Soccer Club. "AYSO doesn't use full-sized soccer fields for all its games, so they'll subdivide some of them," said Magner.

The park also contains three softball fields and will be home to the district's community adult softball program.

Park Superintendent Darryl Wagar said 46 of the acres are landscaped. "There are 585 parking stalls and 6,000 square feet of structures," he said. The park has three restroom facilities, three storage rooms, a multipurpose room, a full-kitchen snack bar, a pre-packaged snack bar and office space.

"It's a wonderful attribute for the community," said Wagar. "The project took 18 months to complete, and we learned a lot in the process."

The playground is designed for children ages 5 to 12, and there's a 0.75-mile granite walking path.

The park was designed and built by Valley Crest Landscape Co. of Calabasas.

"It's going to become a destination site for sports players throughout the region," Wagar said. "In the summer, when it gets hotter over in the valleys, a lot more folks are going to want to be out here. It was designed with that in mind."